One thing about scouting is you will always seem to miss some very talented players, case in point with so much film to breakdown and prospects to evaluate you’re sure to forget about someone you already scouted. Here I am breaking down film of the National power West 7 Rams A team and boom I keep noticing the kid number 3# for the Northwest Cougars is arguably looking like the best player on the field, so like any other scout you know I must find out who that kid is. So, I reach out and ask a group of Detroit people and low and behold I find out from the kids Mom I’ve already heard of him and broke him down as a prospect which was a surprise to me. I have to say that it’s nothing that says more about a kid arriving than showing up in a big game and him taking his game to another level when the playing field is even, and ladies & gentlemen that’s what DeShaun Lee did in my eyes. The very first thing that stood out about DeShaun when he answered a few of my questions, was that he has a alter ego he said and I quote “The feeling football gives me, is it makes me feel like a different person when I’m on the field as opposed to me off the field”. If that doesn’t tell you this kid loves the game of football I don’t know what will. Now that person off the field attends Pace Academy with a 3.668 grade point average which puts him right on course to graduate and hopefully attend Law School since DeShaun aspires to someday be a Defense Attorney. The biggest thing I took away from DeShaun’s answer to another question was him speaking so highly of his Mom being his biggest motivator, DeShaun is all business because he knows his mom encourages him to be better, she works hard and does her best to make him and his siblings happy. I mean who can’t relate to a kid who is so talented yet understands at a young age what needs to be done to achieve his goals of receiving a full ride scholarship to College rather it’s academically or athletically. My lasting impression of this kid is how he took his game to another level when it seemed he was outnumbered, he never gave up and gave 110% on every play on both sides of the ball now that is more than talent, that is heart and DeShaun Lee has it.

The Skinny

When you’re not the biggest football player, you need to be exceptional in other areas to make up for it. Fortunately, Northwest Cougars running back DeShaunLee has some exceptional traits that make up for him not being the prototype in terms of his size. At this point you can say Lee will never be a big back, but will have to gain some weight to hold up better at the High School level. His athletic traits are what make him such a good prospect. He has great feet and big time burst. His top end speed and lateral agility are also outstanding. It’s surprising that a player his size would run so tough, but Lee rarely goes down on initial contact. He shows the strength to run through tackles and gains quite a bit of yards after contact. Even running behind an inexperience offensive line, he certainly made the most of his runs when he had large holes to run through. He repeatedly made people miss at the second level and showed that extra gear to run away from defenders in what is perhaps one of the most competitive local leagues in the Country. His feet are outstanding. He can cut on a dime and can explode after moving laterally. Put that together with his vision and instincts as a runner allow him to gain positive yards when the play design doesn’t quite go as planned. To put it another way, he can create something positive when there is little or nothing there. He can be a serious weapon catching the ball out of the backfield and he shows natural hands catching the football. He is so good in the open field and should make quite a few plays in the screen game. On the High School level, I think Lee could be a great change of pace back that can hit the occasional big play or he can easily be a big-time Defensive-back kid is just that versatile. But at best, I think he can develop into a highly productive feature back for the High School of his choice with the skills to be one of the best players at his position in the Class of 2022. He plays a lot bigger than his size and has the rest of the traits that can make him a special player down the line the potential is certainly there.